What do dogs, cats, and PTSD have in common?

By Dave Stancliff/For the Times-Standard

Posted: 01/03/2010 01:27:24 AM PST

While I was petting my pug and doing some online research the other day, I ran across an interesting item about an Iraqi war veteran who has a Psychiatric Service Dog to help with his Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

A Colorado mailman made news recently, when he was allowed to bring his service dog along on his mail route. I'm not talking about an attack dog. There's a huge difference between them and service dogs. Paul Gernert of Colorado Springs was the first postal carrier in the country allowed to bring his Psychiatric Service Dog to work.

Go to The Times-Standard for the rest of the story.

Photo via bralexlabradors

UPDATE (Noon)

7 web sites that have picked up today’s column so far:

frenchbulldog

twitter/leonepret

PetPedia -The Pet Encyclopedia (1/3/10 - Pet News)

Dogster – For the Love of Dogs

Well Bred Pets (under recent headlines 1/3/10)

North Coast Blogthing (under 1/3/10 Op-Ed)

Pubsub (under 1/3/10 stories of the day)

UPDATE (3:00 p.m.)

brokencontrollers

Petpress (Sun.Jan3)

 

 

Do you know what an Autostereogram is?

A random dot autostereogram (left)encodes a 3D scene which can be "seen" with proper viewing technique.

An autostereogram is a single-image stereogram (SIS), designed to create the visual illusion of a three-dimensional (3D) scene from a two-dimensional image in the human brain. In order to perceive 3D shapes in these autostereograms, the brain must overcome the normally automatic coordination between focusing and vergence.

The simplest type of autostereogram consists of horizontally repeating patterns and is known as a wallpaper autostereogram. When viewed with proper vergence, the repeating patterns appear to float above or below the background. The Magic Eye books feature another type of autostereogram called a random dot autostereogram.

One such autostereogram is illustrated above left. In this type of autostereogram, every pixel in the image is computed from a pattern strip and a depth map. Usually, a hidden 3D scene emerges when the image is viewed with the correct vergence.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kobe Bryant: the best player on the planet!

Kobe did it again last night against the Kings. He took a last second buzzer beater – hit it – and won the game.

That’s the third time this year he’s done that. He also leads the league in scoring (just over 30 points per game) and is playing with a broken index finger and hyper extended elbow!

I’ve been a Laker fan since they moved to LA in 1961. Fair Warning: despite the fact this isn’t a sports blog, I’ll be making comments on the Laker’s activities every now and then.

Here’s a link to the LA Times article and video about last night’s game.

Photo via Sports Illustrated

Texting while driving, public smoking, cooking with trans fats targeted in states' 2010 laws

In this file photo taken Dec. 15, 2009, Tina Derby sends text messages while driving in Concord, N.H. It will be harder to legally text while driving, eat fatty foods and light up in bars and restaurants under new laws that take effect across the country this year. (AP Photo/Jim Cole, File) (Jim Cole, AP / December 15, 2009)

Go here to read the whole story.

2009 Year in Review: News

Remember when President Barack Obama got sworn in? How about when pirates took a U.S. cargo ship captain captive? See these and more top moments that made headlines in 2009.

               JAN 15: US Airways plane river landing

( Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images )

“Rescue boats float near a US Airways plane floating in the water after crashing into the Hudson River in the afternoon on January 15, 2009 in New York City. The Airbus 320 flight 1549 crashed shortly after take-off from LaGuardia Airport heading to Charlotte, North Carolina.”

That joint? It's all in the name of research

Writing isn't all done at a keyboard. And if your protagonist is a pot grower, well . . . please excuse the cloud of smoke.

“In my novel "Baked," I tell the story of a young underground botanist from Los Angeles -- a man inspired by Floyd Zaiger, inventor of the pluot -- and what happens when he wins the Cup and returns home to find himself caught in a tug of war between medical marijuana dispensaries who want an exclusive on his strain.” - Mark Haskell Smith

Go here to read the whole article.

Image titled “Cannabis Cup” by Jacob Thomas

Putting 2009 behind us and looking forward to 2010

Dave Stancliff/For the Times-Standard

Posted: 12/30/2009 01:27:11 AM PST

People still wander in a financial haze after the expensive holidays, with little time to rest or recover before the new year roars in with new days to celebrate and spend money.

Some experts say the economy is recovering, and they cite all kinds of startling statistics that only exist on paper. Very few have any relevance to reality.

Our reality in 2009 was grim. We drained another generation's blood with wars that cripple our economy and contribute to our crumbling infrastructure. They drag on, remnants of failed policies that we're still stubbornly trying to make work.

Go here to read the rest at The Times-Standard.

10 Reasons the U.S. Military Should (Officially) Use Pot

 Medical marijuana may have a host of advantages over other treatments for traumatized vets, but the VA won't even study its efficacy.

 Excerpt from AlterNet:

“Me and the rest of my veterans' group talk about it all the time," he says. "Most of them also medicate with marijuana. If you asked any of us what, out of everything, was most effective in PTSD treatment, we would tell you marijuana." But the VA is a federal agency, so even in the 13 states where doctors are at liberty to suggest that patients try marijuana, they are prohibited from dispensing it.” 

Read more here.

Psychologists: Those in power more apt to 'moral hypocrisy'

Power increases "moral hypocrisy," says Adam Galinsky, a behavioral psychologist at the Kellogg School of Management atNorthwestern University in Evanston, Ill., and co-author of a study published today in the journal Psychological Science. Go here to read the rest.

Salon.com's Best Viral Videos of the Decade

Check out this interesting list of the the best viral videos of the decade from Salon.com.

Since Salon.com is a news website and doesn't focus on humor, their top pick wouldn't jive on this site, though the "Yes We Can" video is certainly one of the best pieces of video content to ever be created for the Internet.

You might recognize several of the humorous viral video choices as they appeared on my Top 20 Viral Videos of All Time list. Consensus! Yay!

But guys, no Leprechaun in Mobile, Alabama video? Oversight of the, uh, decade!

photo courtesy of Salon.com

TMZ Falls For JFK Photo Hoax

Photo that "could have changed history" actually from a Playboy shoot

“In a colossal screw-up, the gossip web site TMZ published a photo yesterday purporting to show John F. Kennedy frolicking on a yacht with a harem of naked women--except that the image actually appeared as part of a November 1967 Playboy photo spread, The Smoking Gun has learned.”

Go here to read the rest.